Bug type
Regression (worked before, now fails)
Beta release blocker
No
Summary
After upgrading to 4.27, openclaw memory status --deep fails immediately with missing runtime deps. The 4.27 release notes claim chokidar v5 hot reload is restored (fixes #27404, #33585, #41606), but the runtime-deps directory ships without chokidar and sqlite-vec.
Errors
First error (chokidar missing):
Failed to start CLI: Error [ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND]: Cannot find package 'chokidar'
imported from ~/.openclaw/plugin-runtime-deps/openclaw-2026.4.27-ca367608fb89/dist/manager-jzSMQjEt.js
Second error (after manually installing chokidar):
sqlite-vec unavailable
Vector: unavailable
Steps to reproduce
openclaw update from 4.22 to 4.27openclaw memory status --deep- Observe ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND for chokidar
Workaround
Manually install into the 4.27 runtime-deps directory:
cd ~/.openclaw/plugin-runtime-deps/openclaw-2026.4.27-ca367608fb89
npm install chokidar@^5.0.0 sqlite-vec
After this, openclaw memory status --deep passes fully (Vector ready, FTS ready, Embeddings ready).
Note
This is a recurring pattern: similar issues were reported in #61686 (4.5) and #58701 (3.31). The bundled runtime-deps for memory-core appear to not be reliably included in the packaged release.
Expected behavior
After upgrading to 4.27, openclaw memory status --deep should pass without manual intervention. chokidar and sqlite-vec should be present in the runtime-deps directory as declared in package.json dependencies.
Actual behavior
runtime-deps directory is missing chokidar and sqlite-vec. CLI fails to start with ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND. Manual npm install into the runtime-deps directory is required to restore memory functionality.
OpenClaw version
2026.4.27 (cbc2ba0)
Operating system
Ubuntu 24.x (VMware Virtual Platform)
Install method
No response
Model
openai-codex/gpt-5.5
Provider / routing chain
N/A — this is a CLI/plugin packaging issue, not a model routing issue.
Additional provider/model setup details
No response
Logs, screenshots, and evidence
Impact and severity
No response
Additional information
No response
Bug type
Regression (worked before, now fails)
Beta release blocker
No
Summary
After upgrading to 4.27,
openclaw memory status --deepfails immediately with missing runtime deps. The 4.27 release notes claim chokidar v5 hot reload is restored (fixes #27404, #33585, #41606), but the runtime-deps directory ships without chokidar and sqlite-vec.Errors
First error (chokidar missing):
Failed to start CLI: Error [ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND]: Cannot find package 'chokidar'
imported from ~/.openclaw/plugin-runtime-deps/openclaw-2026.4.27-ca367608fb89/dist/manager-jzSMQjEt.js
Second error (after manually installing chokidar):
sqlite-vec unavailable
Vector: unavailable
Steps to reproduce
openclaw updatefrom 4.22 to 4.27openclaw memory status --deepWorkaround
Manually install into the 4.27 runtime-deps directory:
After this,
openclaw memory status --deeppasses fully (Vector ready, FTS ready, Embeddings ready).Note
This is a recurring pattern: similar issues were reported in #61686 (4.5) and #58701 (3.31). The bundled runtime-deps for memory-core appear to not be reliably included in the packaged release.
Expected behavior
After upgrading to 4.27,
openclaw memory status --deepshould pass without manual intervention. chokidar and sqlite-vec should be present in the runtime-deps directory as declared in package.json dependencies.Actual behavior
runtime-deps directory is missing chokidar and sqlite-vec. CLI fails to start with ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND. Manual npm install into the runtime-deps directory is required to restore memory functionality.
OpenClaw version
2026.4.27 (cbc2ba0)
Operating system
Ubuntu 24.x (VMware Virtual Platform)
Install method
No response
Model
openai-codex/gpt-5.5
Provider / routing chain
N/A — this is a CLI/plugin packaging issue, not a model routing issue.
Additional provider/model setup details
No response
Logs, screenshots, and evidence
Impact and severity
No response
Additional information
No response